Secrets
by LeaderOfTheRevolution
Summary: DISCONTINUED. SaiXOC. Kabuto has a secret plan now that Orochimaru is gone. He unleashes an extremely powerful girl who'd been locked up for most of her life. Who is she? And how is Sai tied into her past life? WARNING!Mature language/adult themes.
1. Kabuto's Plan

Kabuto's Point of View

_Orochimaru is gone. Sasuke has left, taking Suigetsu with him. I can only assume__  
where he is going and who else he is taking. But I have no intention of following him.  
I was correct in guessing this would happen. It is time to unfold the rest of my plan.  
Now that Orochimaru is mine, it is time for the real game to begin. It is time._

I walked to the high-security cell Orochimaru had shut her up in. I ripped off the  
chakra-control tag, undoing the locks swiftly and fearlessly throwing open the door.  
I knew she wouldn't hurt me. Light formed a square in the pitch black. A figure was  
huddled directly in front of me, her back against the wall, her knees pulled up to her  
chest, her head down.

"Aemi," I said, speaking her name for the first time in nearly seven years. "Get up."

She didn't move. I took a step in. Still, she didn't twitch.

"Get up."

No response. The light reflected off of her deep purple hair. It was long, pooling  
around her feet, which were bare and callused from her hard life. Her arms and  
legs were filthy from years without bathing.

"Come on. I know you're alive. Get up."

I bent down, but kept my distance. "Aemi," I repeated.

Finally, I got my response.

"What do you want, Yakushi?"

I smiled a bit. "Can't you call me brother for once?"

Aemi's head was still down. She didn't move it. She wasn't moving at all, but the  
voice was coming from her. "You're not my brother."

I started in surprise, but quickly regained my composure. "Fine. Want to get out  
of here?"

"Where's snake-ass?"

I knew she was talking about Orochimaru. She was always coming up with nicknames  
—she hardly called anyone by their real names. I was one of maybe two, and even  
that was only my _last _name.

"He's dead."

"Leaf-bastard kill him?"

I smiled. Leaf-bastard was Sasuke. At least I'd kept her well-informed while she was  
locked up.

"Yes."

She snorted. Her voice had hardly changed. She still sounded as though she was  
drowning in contempt for the world. "Good. Snake-ass was a loser. Leaf-bastard's  
not much better, but beggars can't be choosers."

She finally brought her head up to look at me. Even with my shadow blocking the  
light, I could still see their color—solid black pupils with white irises, the faint line of  
black outlining the irises just visible from this distance. Her eyes were big, beautiful,  
but they never showed any emotion. They were empty.

"What do you want from me, Yakushi?" she demanded. "You wouldn't make this  
personal trip unless you wanted something."

I chuckled. She was quick. Smart. She'd gained her smarts the hard way, and for that  
she was cautious, strong. Powerful.

"I'm offering you something." I grinned at her kindly. "I don't want anything."

"Cut the shit, Yakushi," she said. Her eyes narrowed, but they were still just as empty.  
"Don't fuck with me."

I sighed. "Such language, Aemi. And here I was offering you freedom."

I suddenly found myself being pressed against a wall, her forearm in my stomach,  
her hand clutching my throat. I looked in her eyes calmly.

"Freedom?" she hissed. "What makes you think I can't just sashay my way through that  
open door? What makes you think I won't kill you right now, you son of a bitch, and mosey  
on out?"

I pushed down the urge to laugh. "You won't do that, Aemi. And I know that because  
I know you."

She whirled me across to the other side of the room. I landed against the wall and fell.  
After a moment, I sat up, resisting the impulse to rub my sore shoulder.

"Very good, Aemi. Your skills have not dulled."

She strolled over to me and grasped a fold of my shirt in her fist, lifting me up. I met  
her eyes again and chanced a smile. Wrong thing to do.

She let go, cocking her fist and thrusting it into my stomach. Hard. My eyes widened,  
and blood flew from my mouth. Her eyes were shadowed and I could see no expression  
at all on her face. Then I fell to the cold, hard ground of her life-time cell.

I breathed slowly, and through my mouth, until the pain in my stomach had ceased.  
I looked up. Aemi stood in the doorway, standing in the very middle of the light. Her  
eyes weren't squinting—they were wide and welcoming. She welcomed the light, let it  
burn into her retinas. Then she turned back to me and her eyes dimmed almost immediately.

"I don't know what you want with me," she murmured, "but I can tell you this: I want  
no part of whatever piece-of-shit, fucked-up plan you've come up with. I didn't let  
Orochimaru use me, I won't let you use me. I am not a tool."

She faced away from me then. She was beautiful by normal standards, and any guy  
her age would probably be instantly smitten. But she was a deadly beauty. This  
fifteen-year-old girl had seen and been through more screwed up things than anyone  
else in the world. And she'd survived it all.

She walked out the door then. Stepped into the light. She didn't close the door behind  
her. She left it open for me. She could have closed it, locked me in forever. But she didn't.  
Instead, she had walked calmly and freely into the outside world after almost eight years  
of confinement. And, unknowingly, she had walked into my plan.

I smiled as my plot was set in motion. Everything had gone accordingly. All I had to do  
now was wait.

_I'm sorry, Aemi. You're so predictable. You fell right into my trap, just like I knew you would.  
You will have to be sacrificed. I know you too well. Young, predictable Aemi. Goodbye._

--

A/N: WOO GO EVILNESS! haha excuse the language earlier. :PP this is why it's rated M. so, how is it? i have bunch of ideas for this but i will not bother continuing it if u guys don't like it, so REVIEW!


	2. The First

Aemi's legs wobbled as she walked, and she silently cursed Orochimaru when she fell. It was his fault she hadn't walked in eight years. The way she thought of it, if he hadn't been so damn afraid of her, he wouldn't have locked her up, and she wouldn't be as unsteady as she was now.

She leaned against the door frame to one of the rooms and gazed at it silently. Ten years ago, this cushy room, with a large bed, a chest of drawers, a desk, and a bedside table, had been her prison. She hadn't realized it. Probably no five year old would have. But she knew it now.

The furniture was gone, leaving a large, dark, empty room.

_Matches how I feel,_ thought Aemi dryly.

She knew how empty and expressionless her eyes looked. She could tell by the way Orochimaru had looked at her that this was part of how scary she was. Like she could kill you and her eyes would never once change. As it was, she felt like a normal girl in her seemingly hopeless situation would start crying. She should probably be crying in frustration right now, or stomping her foot, or reacting in some way. But she didn't. She was unnaturally calm. That was the way it had always been.

_There was an exit here somewhere. _

She'd already found clothes to replace the shapeless, tattered dress she'd worn on the day of her imprisonment—which, since she had obviously grown in eight years, was extremely small on her. The short-sleeve dark blue kimono she'd found was a bit snug around the chest, and also shorter than she'd liked, as it just barely brushed her knee-caps. She'd stolen pants to fix that problem, and rolled the cuffs up so it wouldn't look extremely stupid.

She heard footsteps coming down this hallway and almost panicked. She hid herself in the shadows quickly and waited until the person passed.

_Yakushi, _she thought, frowning. _Yakushi, you asshole._

She knew she was free to do whatever she wanted, even to leave, and she knew that she could easily take on Kabuto Yakushi. But she'd lived too long being on the run, she'd gotten cautious. She couldn't stop herself from checking over her shoulder and making sure she wasn't making a sound.

Finally she came to an exit. As she stepped out of Orochimaru's hideout and into the world, the sun and warmth burned her eyes, seared her skin. She lifted her arms away from her sides and let it. Then she opened her stride and began to run. Her legs stretched, using muscles that hadn't been accessed in years and years. Wind, lovely wind, rushed into her face. She could feel her hair floating back, long and flowing.

She slowly trailed off into a walk. Where had she to run to anyway? She couldn't possibly go home…Could she? They probably didn't even remember her. They probably didn't care. Her mother was dead, she had no idea who her father was. She stared into the sun and nodded decisively. Home it is.

_Home. Watch out, guys—Leaf village's biggest bitch is on her way home._

--

Naruto's Point of View

Kakashi-sensei was still in the hospital. Sakura, Sai, Captain Yamato and I had all been assigned another mission. Sakura was still in a bit of a slump after our last fight with Sasuke, when she had seen him and not been able to do anything, even after Sai and Captain Yamato were injured. She was convinced she was weak. I knew better, but nothing I said made a difference. So I did my best to distract her.

"Wait, Captain Yamato, what's this mission again?" I asked, forgetting again.

"We're investigating whether or not Orochimaru is dead," Captain Yamato calmly explained.

I nodded, remembering. My memory was horrible if I forgot something as important as _that_. "Okay."

Sakura and Sai didn't say anything. Sai eventually glanced at me, though, and said, "Someone's coming."

Immediately after, a girl about our age came flying through the trees, headed the other way. She froze stock-still when she saw us, stopping at the branch ahead of us. Her eyes, empty black pupils with an unusually colored black-and-white iris, drifted up, to rest on our headbands.

"You're Leaf ninja?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. What's wrong? You looked like you were in a hurry."

Captain Yamato and Sai had drawn their weapons. The girl saw them.

"No need for those," she said. "I'm not going to fight you. I'm just going to leave."

"There she is!"

The girl groaned. Four tough-looking men appeared in front of her, their backs to us.

"Hey, you, girl!" growled one. "Give us that pendant back."

She scowled at them. "You losers don't know how to use it. It's much better off with me."

"That has belonged to us for generations," said another.

"You should thank me, then, for taking it off your hands so you don't have to play babysitter. It's never going to help you if you stick it on a wall."

"It is sacred to us!"

"You dense monkeys!" she retorted calmly. "You don't even know what to _do _with it!"

"That's it, I've had enough of your voice!" A tall, beefy one reached for the girl's throat.

I immediately pressed a kunai against his throat. "When a lady is speaking, it's best to listen."

I saw Sakura smile out of the corner of my eye. She knew those words had originally been spoken by Elder Chiyo from the Sand Village. Then the smile slowly vanished. I hadn't seen the fist that swung my way. I braced myself for impact, knowing I couldn't jump away in time. The impact never came.

I opened my eyes. The girl was scowling at the man, but her eyes held no expression. She had grabbed the man's arm just before his punch connected. His arm was twitching in effort to break away from her, but she looked like she could hold him there for hours.

"Thanks for the assistance," she said, and I realized she was talking to me, "but I don't want you getting hurt on my account."

She swung the man's fist away and her leg flew up, burying itself in his stomach. He flew back into a tree and lay still.

"K-Kazuo?" said the first man. He looked at the girl with fear in his eyes. "T-Take the pendant. J-Just don't…"

"Don't what? Do this?"

She cocked her fist and in a flash, it had smashed the man right in between his eyes. He too slumped unconscious. She cracked her knuckles and turned her attention to the other two men.

"Anyone else?" she asked.

They shook their heads, bending to pick up their wounded. When they went to lift the beefy one, Kazuo, the girl looked at them.

"Don't bother," she said emotionlessly. "He's dead."

One checked for a pulse, and his eyes widened as her sentence was confirmed.

"How did you…" I was about to ask, when I saw the stab wound in Kazuo's stomach.

I wasn't sure when she'd been able to stab him, but the point was, he was dead. I looked at the girl again, this time spying the pendant that all this fuss had been about. It hung perfectly around her pale neck, on a plain brown cord. The pendant itself was a solid black stone, large and smooth-looking.

I was tempted to ask about it, but the girl really didn't look like she was in the mood to talk. She was about to leave, it seemed, when someone was suddenly pinning her against a tree.

"Sai!" I yelled.

The almost-emotionless black-haired boy didn't look at me. His attention was fully on the girl.

"Who are you?" he said. "And why is your face at the top of the Leaf Anbu Bingo Book?"

The girl stared back at him, the something strange happened. Her face cracked into a smile.

Aemi's Point of View

The boy was very close to me. It took me a bit to realize he had me pinned. Eyes just as expressionless as mine bored into my mind.

"Sai!" I heard the yellow-haired boy scream.

_Sai, hm? Interesting._

"Who are you?" Sai asked. "And why is your face at the top of the Leaf Anbu Bingo Book?"

I couldn't help it. I smiled.

"You may not know me," I said. "But I know _you_, Sai."

The boy's expression didn't change. It was like looking at a male version of myself. His eyes were almost as empty, but…there was something in his eyes I didn't have. A little spark of something. Gradually, my brain made the connection. This boy had people that he was starting to care for. He wasn't like me at all. I only had myself.

And that was how it was going to stay.

"And if you're Sai," I continued, "then that blonde boy must be Naruto Uzumaki. The girl is obviously Sakura Haruno, and the remaining man is Yamato. Am I correct?"

"Who are you?" Sai repeated.

For some reason, I felt like laughing. This guy was amusing me.

"Aemi," I said, knowing very well that wasn't my real name. I didn't know _what _my real name was, but it sure as hell wasn't that. "I don't remember my last name."

"What are you doing here?"

I held his gaze evenly. "If you really must know, I was running from Orochimaru's hideout."

I could see the blonde boy, Naruto, stiffen.

"Orochimaru?" he asked.

"Well," I said, "I call him snake-ass, but I doubt you four would have understood who the hell I was talking about. Now, would you mind letting me go, or are you going to continue to be a heartless prying bastard?"

Sai pressed me harder against the tree. "Why were you at Orochimaru's?"

"I was his prisoner for eight years. He bought me off of my mother when I was five. He chose to lock me up when I was barely seven."

"Where are your parents now?" asked Sakura.

"Mother's dead. I don't know where my father is."

"Why are you in the Bingo Book as 'Enemy Unknown'?" demanded Sai, drawing my attention back to him.

"Why don't you ask the son of a bitch you call a leader?"

Suddenly, my head snapped to the side. The skin of my cheek burned. He had slapped me, the jackass.

"Sai!" scolded Sakura.

"Sai, you bastard, what was that for?" Naruto started toward him, but Yamato put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sai, I admit she is in the Bingo Book as an extremely dangerous ninja," he said. "But I'm not sure she knows that. We need her with us. She can help. Then we can take her back to the village. But she didn't need the slap."

"She's lying to us."

Yamato blinked.

"She's lying," said Sai. "Her name's not Aemi."

"Well I don't know about you," I said calmly. "But that's what I've been called for the past ten years."

"That's not your real name."

"Then what is it? C'mon. Enlighten me."

We stood there, staring at each other, waiting for one of us to look away first. He seemed about to say something when Sakura laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Sai," she said softly. "Just let her go."

He looked at Sakura in surprise.

"Look," I said, sighing. "I promise I won't run away. I'll go with you."

He glanced at me, sizing me up, then released me. "Fine."

I took a deep, gasping breath, realizing the loser had been slowly cutting off my air flow.

_Lovely, _I thought. _That probably killed half my brain cells._


	3. Sai's Secret: Beginning

Aemi's Point of View

Sai kept staring at me. I never really did anything to attract his attention, but he just kept turning around to look at me. Maybe to make sure I hadn't fled. Like he could really do anything to stop me if I decided to run.

No, I had decided to humor them. I was staying. I was letting them think I was their captive. What else was there to do?

Sakura looked at me just as much, but her face showed open curiosity. Naruto stayed next to me the whole time, my unofficial guard. He grinned at me, but his eyes…I couldn't see his eyes to see if his smile was real.

"So," he said. "You were in Orochimaru's hideout?"

I nodded shortly.

"Is he…dead?"

Another nod.

"What about…"

I blinked. _He was going to ask about leaf-bastard._

"Sasuke left."

He looked at me, surprised that I had guessed what he was going to ask. Then he looked down. I had succeeded in depressing him.

"Sorry."

Naruto smiled at me. God, how easy it was to lie. I couldn't care less about where leaf-bastard was going, or what happened to him, or what friends he'd left behind. If these ninja were from the Leaf-village, the chances of me being allowed home were slim to none. Unless…

"Naruto."

He looked surprised again. "Yeah?"

"How's old man Third?"

Now he looked sad again. What the fuck? This kid _had _to be bipolar or something. One minute he's hyper, the next minute he looks as if you'd killed his puppy.

"He's dead."

My eyes widened. Old man Third was dead? How could he have died? Nothing could kill that guy, it was nearly impossible…

_Snake-ass._

My fist clenched and I felt angry. It was an emotion I hadn't felt in a long, long time, and now it was flowing through me, pure, unadulterated rage.

"Hey, Sakura!" I called.

Both she and Sai turned to face me, surprised. I met both their eyes.

"How would you like to go after Sasuke?"

I saw Sakura's eyes widen, could see the struggle taking place inside her mind. She played it safe and bit her lip.

"Because I know where he's going."

"He's going after Itachi," Naruto said. "Itachi's in the Akatsuki. No one knows where the Akatsuki are."

"Err, wrong!"

"Huh?" Naruto looked toward me, his eyes wide.

"I know exactly where the Akatsuki are."

Sai's Point of View

Aemi looked straight at Naruto, completely calm, and said, "I know exactly where the Akatsuki are."

I watched my friend's face as the news sunk in. I heard Sakura's sharp intake of breath. I knew how much they wanted to get their friend Sasuke back, but, really, after our encounter in Orochimaru's hideout, I would have expected normal people to just give up. Not Naruto. Naruto doesn't give up. He never has and probably never will.

Aemi must have known how they'd react. I narrowed my eyes. I didn't trust her one bit. She was too calm, too expressionless, too like me. I'd been exactly like her, my eyes had been just as empty. But now I was changing for the better, because I had Naruto and Sakura. This girl had no one.

"Where are they?" asked Captain Yamato.

She tilted her chin. "Now hold on a minute. I know where they are, sure. But I'm not telling you."

That's it. Something about this girl really bothered me. Hearing her say that, seeing Sakura's hopeful face fall, made something in me snap. Before I knew what was happening, I had launched myself at her, then we were falling, and I managed to land a good solid punch. She shoved me off of her and grabbed a branch before we fell. I stopped a few feet above the ground, hovering there. It took me a second to realize that Naruto had grabbed hold of my wrist. He heaved me up, and Aemi pulled herself onto a branch.

"You're a bitch," I told her matter-of-factly.

Just as calmly, she replied, "And you are a rash, impetuous dickhead who doesn't let people finish their sentences."

I could have smiled when I watched her wipe blood from her split lip.

"As I was saying," she said, watching me warily. "I'm not telling you. The only way is for me to show you. I'm going too."

"No."

I looked at Captain Yamato, surprised and glad that he wasn't going to let her.

She scowled, but the emotion never reached her eyes. "Why?"

"Why do you want to go so badly?"

"I have business to take care of with the Akatsuki Assholes," Aemi said. "Besides, if I just told you, I wouldn't be very smart, now would I? Then I'd have no bargaining chip and I'd probably be stuck in prison the second I set foot in the village."

I narrowed my eyes. Now she was admitting she's in trouble? It was starting to get dark, I noticed then. I didn't want to be stuck making camp with the girl, but I figured since the village was two days' travel away and since we still had our mission, that we'd have to sleep. Aemi seemed to share my thoughts.

"So," she said, looking almost…sheepish? "Sorry about the whole baiting-you thing with Sasuke, but, hey, survival. Do you guys sleep?"

Naruto, shocked, burst out laughing. "Of course we sleep!"

"Naruto sleeps more than any of us," grumbled Sakura.

"Huh? I do _not_, Sakura-chan!"

Aemi watched them curiously. She opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind. We made camp, and Aemi, since she didn't have a blanket, leaned against a tree trunk.

And there she sat. I watched her as she watched the others sleep. I was lying down, my face hidden by the fire. The firelight caused shadows dancing across her features, and I could see then that she was beautiful.

"Anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare?"

I started, surprised. Aemi wasn't looking at me. I sat up. She pulled her knees against her chest, resting her chin on her kneecaps. She would have looked uncomfortable and vulnerable, if it wasn't for her eyes. As it was, she just looked cold—in every sense of the word. She stared at the fire with her eyes slightly narrowed. I imagined the fire freezing solid under her gaze. The mental picture almost made me smile.

"You don't trust me," she said now, "do you?"

I kept looking at her, but I didn't say anything.

"That's good. You shouldn't trust me. You're smart. Not like…"

She gestured at the sleeping forms of Sakura and Naruto. Still, I was silent. She peered at me, her brow furrowed in what I assumed was confusion.

"You don't talk much."

That made me smile. It had gotten easier for me to smile and mean it since I met Naruto and Sakura. Now I wanted to protect them, because I had bonds. I finally had bonds. Thinking about that reminded me how lucky I was, especially compared to this girl. Looking at her expressionless eyes made me feel sort of…hollow.

_What's that feeling called? It's like…a hollow ache in my stomach._

"Really?" I asked. "Sakura says I talk _too _much."

The corner of her mouth turned up. "I'd ask if she was your girlfriend, but it's Naruto she cares about most, I think. Him and…from the way she reacted when I brought up his name…"

She trailed off. We both knew she was speaking of Sasuke.

"What's wrong with them?" she muttered. "The bastard left them, abandoned them, tried to kill them. And they're still trying to bring him back."

She blew out a puff of air and looked up at the sky.

"Why do you want to go with us after the Akatsuki?"

Aemi shook her head, smiling, her eyes closed. "Good boy," she whispered. "Don't let me think I'm safe. Pester me until I tell you everything. Don't trust me."

"I don't," I answered honestly. "You don't care about us. There's nothing to stop you from lying to us."

"Very true, very true," she nodded. "So, tell me, Sai. How do you know about my face in the Bingo Book?"

I pulled my Bingo Book from my bag. It was full, red X's on every page, except for two. I flipped to the first page; number one, most important, most deadly. I pointed to the picture, sliding it over to her. Her own face stared up at her, a few years younger. Her smile vanished.

Her eyes had been softening, I realized suddenly as I watched them harden again. She tapped the page twice with her index finger.

"I was twelve here," she said. "Kabuto took a picture of me for Orochimaru's records. He'd let me brush my hair. He took the picture right there in the cell. Then he locked the door again."

I watched Aemi closely as she handed the book back.

"Part of the Anbu, are you?" she asked.

"From the new Root program."

"Kabuto told me about that. Said you recreated the Bloody Mist's graduation exam."

I gave a stiff nod. She sighed.

"You lost your emotions the easy way," she murmured. "One minute you have them, next minute, poof, now you don't. I struggled with them for years before…"

She laid down abruptly, rolling onto her side. "Goodnight."

I stared at her, my eyes wide, too shocked to respond. Something about what she'd just said was stirring up memories…

_I didn't kill my brother. He died of sickness._

A voice in my head cackled. _Still your fault, _it taunted. _Your fault he got sick. You killed her. You killed her and that killed him._

_No, I didn't do that._

_Yes, Sai, yes you did. You had a choice. Kill her and become Anbu, or let her live. She didn't fight you, Sai. When she found out she was fighting you, she refused. When you attacked, she let you. You killed Aemi._

I buried my head in my lap, trying to block out the voice. _I didn't, I didn't._

_You killed Aemi._

_You killed Aemi._

_You killed—_

The voice stopped. It vanished without a trace. That's when I felt someone's thin but strong arms around me. My eyes widened.

"Sai," I heard, "Sai, are you alright?"

Sakura? I picked my head up slowly. Sakura's emerald eyes were looking at me in concern. Her arm was around my shoulders.

"Sai, are you okay?"

"What did I…"

"You just kept muttering 'That's not Aemi.' And 'I killed her.' And then you yelled 'Shut up!' You scared me."

"Did I wake anyone else up?"

Sakura shook her head. "You know how heavy of a sleeper Naruto is. He would've slept through an earthquake."

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah."

Aemi's Point of View

I lay awake, my back to them, listening to Sai muttering and Sakura comforting.

_Interesting. That's how he knew Aemi wasn't my real name. He knew someone named Aemi, someone he killed…Who is he?_

* * *

A/N: Okay, wow this is slowly turning into a SaiXOC fanfic. huh. Didnt see that coming. keep reading please!


	4. A Memory: Aemi's Past?

A/N: There are a lot of POV switching in this one, so I bolded and italicized it this time. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Although i probably should have put this in earlier, oh well. I do not own Naruto (SAD!). However, all ideas and the characters of Aemi and Renji are completely my own creation.

* * *

_**Aemi's Point of View**_

I could have run that night. I should have run that night. With each step, I was now getting closer to the one place I'd wanted to escape for eight years. We weren't going to the Akatsuki yet. Stupid ninja had their stupid mission.

I saw Sakura glance back at Sai again, who was my guard today. She was probably worried about last night's episode. A zillion thoughts raced through my mind, and I distractedly tried to sort them. I hardly noticed when I missed my footing and began to fall.

However, I was all too aware when Sai's arms wrapped around me as he saved me from the death drop. The skin of my arm burned where it brushed his. It felt like both electricity and fire were flowing under my flesh from the contact.

From where my head was, cradled against his chest, I could hear his heartbeat. My heart thumped loudly. Was it just me, or was his heart beating faster too?

It had been a few solid minutes and he still hadn't let me go. Naruto glanced at us curiously, and Sakura had some sort of smile.

"You can let me go," I said.

He didn't look down at me. "You've been distracted all morning," he said by way of answer.

"Didn't get much sleep," I grumbled.

Finally, he looked down at me, his black-eyed gaze smoldering. I blinked, confused, when I felt the tiniest bit of heat in my cheeks.

_So this is what it feels like to blush…wait, why the hell am I blushing?_

He stopped. "Want to get down?"

I avoided his eyes now. _Holy shit was I _embarrassed_? _I untangled my arms from his neck as he set me down.

_I don't like him. I have no emotions._

I shook my head, feeling dazed. Sai was moving a little faster than before. He was acting odd now. After a few minutes, Sakura dropped back to talk to me.

"What'd you do to him?" she asked, meaning the suddenly distant Sai.

I followed her gaze, staring at his back. "I have no idea."

_**Sai's Point of View**_

I was shocked at myself. Why had I held on to her so long? Why could I still feel her long, silky hair brushing against my skin? I shook my head fiercely to clear my thoughts. Glaring into space, I felt myself going faster and faster.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sakura drop back to keep an eye on Aemi.

_You killed her, Sai, you killed Aemi._

No, Aemi's right behind me.

_You know Aemi isn't her real name. You killed the real Aemi._

I heard Sakura and Aemi talking. I tried to focus on their conversation.

"I have no idea." That was Aemi.

It must have been an answer to a question, because Sakura didn't speak for a moment.

"They like you," said Aemi.

Sakura laughed. "Naruto, sure. Sai…if he had his emotions, I don't think he'd be feeling that."

"He has his emotions," Aemi said quietly. I could just barely hear her. "But he needs to work on not repressing them."

"What about you?"

I could hear the subtle change in Aemi's voice when she replied, "What about me?"

Sakura, not noticing the slight edge to Aemi's voice, trudged on.

"Your emotions. Do you…still have them?"

"Somewhere, I suppose. I don't know. I threw them away a few years ago."

"What…" I heard Sakura pause. She was probably biting her lip. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

"What?" asked Sakura angrily. "Don't think I'll be able to handle it?"

"You won't."

I turned slightly. Sakura was trying to keep her jaw from dropped. Aemi's eyes were hidden from me, but I knew it didn't matter. Her eyes would have been just as blank as her face.

"You won't be able to handle it. It's a reality check for you, you can't deal with it. Sure, I suppose it must have hurt having leaf-bastard walk out on you, but you have parents, Naruto, a village of friends. You've never seen death, not the death of someone you cared about, not a death you caused. You've never killed anyone. Face it, you're a cream puff."

Aemi looked like she was about to say something more, but Sakura never gave her a chance. Within moments, Aemi was flying backwards. She didn't stop until she crashed into a tree trunk. Sakura stood on a tree branch, her fist still clenched. Captain Yamato and Naruto stopped and stared at her. I went to check on Aemi.

A collision like that meant Sakura had punched almost at full strength. Aemi _had _to be feeling that…

_What the hell?_

Aemi sat up, blood dripping from her lip, which had re-split and was practically gushing. The black stone pendant around her neck reflected sunlight. Her shoulders shook. At first I thought she was trembling. Then she opened her mouth. A clear, pure sound erupted, and she clapped a hand over her smiling lips.

We were all staring at her now, but each face held a different expression. Sakura looked more shocked now than angry, despite having been called a cream puff. Naruto was just smiling. Captain Yamato frowned. I probably looked as confused as I felt.

Aemi stood, wiping away the blood with the back of her hand. "You are an entertaining bunch, you know that?"

Nobody moved. We weren't really sure what to say.

"I think I'm almost starting to like the three of you," she continued, dusting herself off calmly. "So go ahead. Ask me anything you like about snake—Orochimaru."

Naruto's smile faltered and he became very serious. "Where is he?"

"Inside Sasuke."

"Where did he lock you up?"

She blinked, looking like she wanted to smile again. "In a cell."

"He means what hideout," I said shortly.

"The north hideout," she replied. "It's the most heavily guarded, with the most…experiments."

"Why Sasuke?"

She met his eyes. "From what I hear, Sasuke has the Sharingan. I assume that's why. But Sasuke was mostly a second choice."

"What do you mean?" Sakura demanded.

Aemi's chilly gaze moved to the pink-haired girl.

"Orochimaru's first choice," she answered, "was Itachi Uchiha."

_**Aemi's Point of View**_

I think that was possibly one of the worst things I could have said to them.

_Note to self: Do _not_ tell them the truth about the Uchiha slaughter._

I could feel the black stone pulsing gently where it hung around my neck. Its power flowed through me. I knew it was controlling me. I was glad I'd been able to pilfer Orochimaru's charm from those stupid idiot men. Otherwise, these four probably wouldn't have lasted so long…

"What do you mean by second choice?" asked Yamato cautiously.

I frowned. I didn't like him. I would not answer him. So I turned my attention to Sai when I answered.

"Orochimaru's original plan was to take over Itachi's body. That's why he joined Akatsuki. But Itachi was stronger than him, so he left. He heard about Sasuke and knew Sasuke would want power, so he used that to his advantage."

Sai nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense."

I smiled at him genuinely, and he peered at me, his brow furrowed. "Are you getting your emotions back?"

I shook my head. "Probably not. But at least I'm learning to smile again."

"So, the smile is real." He smiled back. "Okay then."

_Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-DUM._

My eyes widened. Why was I reacting like this? Why was my heart beating so _rapidly_, just from a smile? I couldn't possibly be _attracted_ to this guy, could I?

_**Sai's Point of View**_

I couldn't help smiling at her. She really was very pretty…

My heart sped up. It was simple really. We were close enough together already. All I had to do was tilt her head and I'd be able to kiss her.

_What am I thinking? She'd probably hate me, shove me away, swear at me._

But I couldn't deny the fact that I wanted to.

_**Naruto's Point of View**_

They were pretty much just waiting there, staring in each other's eyes. It was starting to get very weird. I kept expecting Sai to kiss her. I don't know why. I started to say something, but Sakura reached over and clamped her hand over my mouth.

"Don't interrupt, Naruto," she whispered. "Let it happen. Sai needs this."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I stayed quiet. I didn't want to make her angry. Captain Yamato, having heard exactly what Sakura said, looked just as confused. Sakura was watching the two with a small smile on her face.

Whatever. I shrugged. Let whatever's going to happen, happen.

_**Aemi's Point of View**_

_Kiss me,_ I found myself thinking. _Oh please, kiss me._

We were either getting extremely good at telepathy, or, dear God, Sai had actually _wanted _to kiss me.

Whatever the reason, I was unreasonably happy when he bent down to place his lips on mine. I slowly allowed my hand to move up. My fingers curled in his hair as his hand rested gently on my cheek. Something in my memory sparked to life.

_A face, so like Sai's, slightly older and more defined. The eyes, not quite so emotionless, looking at me with adoration. Those deep black eyes that made me feel like I was falling. A touch, just as gentle as his, tracing the lines of my body as my clothes were removed. The heat of his skin against mine._

Sai mumbled something against my lips. I didn't hear what it was, but for some unknown reason, my heart soared.

_My name, he said my name,_ a voice in my head moaned.

My mouth moved of its own accord, forming a word, a name. I was no longer in control of my own body when a voice coming from my own mouth whispered, "Renji."

He broke away from me, every cell in my body screaming _No, no, no._

He looked at me closely, cupping my chin, and suddenly he was Sai again. I could feel a blush forming.

"Renji?" he whispered.

_**Sai's Point of View**_

_Renji, _I thought, _Why does that sound familiar? Was she calling _me _Renji? And that name I whispered before…What's going on?_

From the look in her eyes, she was as confused as me. And then it hit me. Her eyes. I could see everything in them. I could see the whole world in those white-and-black irises. I could see everything she was thinking, everything she was feeling.

She loved me. And, at the same time, she really had no idea why.

Then her eyes closed off to me and she became the normal Aemi she'd always been.

_That name…What was it? Why can't I remember? Was it her real name?_

_Why had I had that vision when we were kissing? It looked like Aemi, and at the same time…not. It was her face, her eyes, her long violet hair. But she was older, and we were…I was undressing her._

I almost shivered as I remembered the vision, so real I had thought for a moment that it was actually happening. I had momentarily believed that they were together, alone in a room, me on top and her underneath, our clothes flung in different directions…

She was watching me carefully. She played with a piece of my hair between her fingers as she quietly asked, "Did you see it too?"

I nodded a little, leaning in farther and preparing to kiss her again, when…

"Sai!" Naruto grinned at him. "You can kiss her later, let's get going while it's still light outside."

_Nitwit,_ I thought fondly, smiling just a bit.

Then I offered my hand to Aemi. She looked up at me and took it, her touch sending sparks through my veins. I helped her up and we continued on, but I found myself unable to concentrate on anything other than her.

* * *

A/N: Okely dokely. I am disappointed in myself, frankly. This last Sai POV is totally not how i wanted it. But i rewrote it five or six times and this was the best i could come up with. The other chaps will be better! REVIEW!!


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